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MARCH .2,2023
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DEBORAH WITZBURG | INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR THE CITY OF CHICAGO11 Introduction
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a follow-up to its December 2020 audit of the Department of Streets and Sanitation's (DSS) enforcement of recycling requirements for commercial and high-density residential buildings (i.e. those with five or more units). Based on DSS's responses, OIG concludes that DSS has fully implemented two corrective actions, partially implemented one corrective action, and has not implemented four corrective actions related to the audit findings.
The purpose of the 2020 audit was to determine whether DSS ensured that building owners provided recycling collection services as required by the Chicago Recycling Ordinance. The Ordinance states that owners or occupants of commercial and high-density residential buildings "shall contract with a private hauler, or cause a contract to be entered into with a private hauler, for the provision of source-separated recycling services [... ]."1 The City is required to provide buildings found in violation of this requirement 30 days to come into compliance. Continued noncompliance can result in fines ranging between $500 and $5,000 per day. The Ordinance also requires private haulers to submit annual reports detailing the source, type, and amount of recyclables collected. Such information would assist DSS in calculating waste diversion rates, setting goals, and monitoring progress toward those goals.2 If private haulers do not submit the annual reports, DSS can notify the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and prevent the renewal of the private hauler's business license.3
In addition, OIG evaluated DSS' enforcement of reporting requirements for the City'...
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